Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Salvadoran officer found liable in Romero assasination case: "Mr Saravia, who has not been seen since the charges were filed against him last September, was not in court. “To be liable for the killing of a human being, you don’t have to pull the trigger,” Judge Oliver Wanger told about 100 spectators at the courtroom in Fresno, California, many of them Salvadoran. The visitors erupted in applause, and many in attendance began weeping.

"After the case concluded, San Francisco State University Professor Felix Kury, who is Salvadoran, made reference to the estimated $6 billion in U.S. support for the Salvadoran government during the war. “The elephant in the room—that we could not talk about because we wanted to find this man responsible—is the role of the United States,” he said. “The war would not have happened without it.”

"Then, in a traditional Latin American remembrance of the dead, Kury called out three times, “Monsignor Romero,” and three times the crowd in the courtroom responded, “Presente!” “He has been resurrected,” said Kury, with tears streaming down his cheeks. “This is the beginning. It will give courage to people to continue fighting against death.”"

Salvadoran officer found liable in Romero assasination case: "Mr Saravia, who has not been seen since the charges were filed against him last September, was not in court. “To be liable for the killing of a human being, you don’t have to pull the trigger,” Judge Oliver Wanger told about 100 spectators at the courtroom in Fresno, California, many of them Salvadoran. The visitors erupted in applause, and many in attendance began weeping.

"After the case concluded, San Francisco State University Professor Felix Kury, who is Salvadoran, made reference to the estimated $6 billion in U.S. support for the Salvadoran government during the war. “The elephant in the room—that we could not talk about because we wanted to find this man responsible—is the role of the United States,” he said. “The war would not have happened without it.”

"Then, in a traditional Latin American remembrance of the dead, Kury called out three times, “Monsignor Romero,” and three times the crowd in the courtroom responded, “Presente!” “He has been resurrected,” said Kury, with tears streaming down his cheeks. “This is the beginning. It will give courage to people to continue fighting against death.”"